


Come meet me in the sky, I'll be waiting for you

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boxing, Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Boxers, First Time, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends With Benefits, Homophobia, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, Smut, payzer friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-18 13:01:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 20,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1429534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Zayn and I have the privilege of choosing a few names to recommend for Milan Fashion Week and you’re a serious contender.”</p><p>“Harry, you can’t just go around telling people that, you idiot!” comes a gravelly voice from the doorway. Liam turns and sees the Adonis from earlier standing shirtless in the doorway of the room that Harry had come out of. Liam’s mouth drops open along with Dani’s but she recovers quicker and gives him a subtle kick into the side of his leg so he closes it again.</p><p> </p><p>Or the one where everything Liam's been working towards could be shattered in an instant, Zayn has never felt like this before, Harry is on the catwalk where he belongs, Niall doesn't look right apparently and Louis is one of the good ones. Oh and Danielle loves Liam more fiercely than anything but never in a sexual way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come meet me in the sky, I'll be waiting for you

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, I know nothing about boxing or modelling or Vogue or head injuries anything like that mentioned in here so any inaccuracies are my fault. Also I am definitely not saying that Niall is in any way ugly, I'm just saying that he's not what Vogue look for in a model. Sorry! Other than that, please enjoy!
> 
> Title taken from Air Balloon by Lily Allen.
> 
> I do not own One Direction. If I did, Zayn would be shagging me, not Liam.

Liam hears him before he sees him.

A deep throaty laugh that carries down the corridor where he’s awkwardly stood, waiting for his best and oldest friend Danielle to come out of the girl’s dressing room. Liam feels hugely, awkwardly out of place because clearly he doesn’t belong at London Fashion Week, he’s wearing jeans from Topman, for crying out loud.

He watches as two blokes walk past him, both exceedingly beautiful but one much more beautiful than the other, who happens to be the one with the laugh that he wants to hear on repeat for a long time. He’s dark-skinned and slender and has cheekbones that Liam is pretty sure you could slice cheese from. He’s heavily tattooed and wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a plain black top that hugs his shoulders and toned stomach tightly and Liam takes a deep breath as he passes him, mesmerised. 

He’s well aware he must be staring and he’s well aware he needs to not be, because he himself isn’t exactly anonymous, even though he doubts many people who attend LFW also watch professional boxing religiously.

A soft hand rests itself on his shoulder and he jumps possibly more than he should have, realising almost straight away that it’s only Dani coming out the dressing room. She looks bloody beautiful as always – her hair in a dark frizzy mass across her shoulders. She’s wearing a complicated looking red dress and dark red lipstick and Liam has no doubt in his mind at all that she belongs on that runway.

“Holy shit, Dani, you look…”

She laughs and twirls dramatically before slinging her arm around his waist. “You could almost fool me into thinking you liked girls with a jaw drop like that,” she says with a playful pinch to his hip. Liam’s eyes immediately grow wide and he looks around in a wild panic.

“Will you relax, babe?” Dani reprimands, pulling him in tighter. “We’re the only ones in this corridor, you’re fine.”

Liam swallows thickly and nods, letting Dani lead him out of the corridor and towards the backstage area where she needs to wait, all thoughts of the beautiful boy forgotten when he sees how nervous his best friend is. 

This was only her first year as a model and as such she only got to model two pieces on the catwalk but she’s got such a natural grace and poise that Liam has no doubts that she’ll be back next year.

She’s hanging onto his arm anxiously now as the models line up to take to the runway. There’s a thick tension in the air as all of these models are first-timers like Dani and the fact that putting on a good performance means the difference between coming back next year and being back to doing Next catalogues. 

“You’ll be brilliant,” Liam reassures, kissing the top of her head gently so as not to mess up her hair. “None of these girls hold a candle to you and I’m not just saying that. You’re going to conquer this thing.”

Dani doesn’t say anything but squeezes him tightly one last time before heading forward to join the queue, smoothing out her dress nervously. Liam takes a step to his right so he can get a better look at the catwalk and also the audience. It’s heaving and he can pick out a few celebrities in the front row: Tinie Tempah, Ellie Goulding, Victoria Beckham.

Although he knows nothing about modelling, he can safely say Dani absolutely smashes it. She walks down the catwalk with confidence and grace and the right amount of cheeky hip sashay. She’s rushed off immediately to change her outfit so Liam doesn’t get a chance to speak to her but she’s back about two minutes later, wearing a white jumpsuit that stands out beautifully against her dark skin. 

A voice from behind her shouts “Danielle, stop a second!” and a shortish bloke with sharp cheekbones hurries over to her, whipping a lipstick out from the bag in his hand like a gun. “Just wanna touch you up, you’re doing fabulous though babe!” he beams as he hands her a tissue to blot with. 

She murmurs her thanks and squeezes his hand as she hands the tissue to him before turning back to the line, giving Liam a giant smile and two thumbs up on her way back. He returns it with gusto and watches her elegantly stride out onto the catwalk when a voice to his right says “Is that your girl?”

Liam looks across to see the make-up artist from a few seconds ago standing by his side, smiling up at him. He looks back over to Dani and shakes his head. “Not my girl. Best friend though. She didn’t want her other half back here with her, he’s more nervous than she is.”

The bloke laughs and extends his hand to Liam. “I know that feeling. Louis, by the way, model make-up artist and boyfriend to the lead model in the Burberry Men’s collection,” he announces proudly.

“Liam, best friend of first time model and professional boxer, boyfriend to nobody.” 

Louis laughs loudly before he’s shushed by someone else backstage. Dani comes off then, walking professionally until she’s out of sight and then running into Liam’s arms.

“That was incredible! I cannot _believe_ I just got to model Burberry in front of Victoria Beckham and Angela Ahrendts herself!” she squeals muffledly into Liam’s chest. Liam hugs her back tightly and brushes the curls out of her forehead so he can press a kiss onto it.

“I’m so proud of you, Dani!” Liam gushes as they’re lead out of the backstage area and back into the corridor. “You were fantastic, you… you bloody smashed it, darling.”

“Thanks, Li!” she beams before disappearing back into the girl’s dressing room. Liam leans against the wall again and chats idly to Louis for a bit longer, pausing every now and then as he attacks girls coming in and out of the changing room with a blusher brush or lipstick.

“You’re staying until the end, right?” Louis questions as he dusts the pink powder onto a gorgeous redhead’s cheeks lightly. “My lovely Harry isn’t on until last, and I know I’m kinda biased but he’s genuinely a sight to behold. One of the best models out there.”

“I must admit I have very limited knowledge of models, but I’m sure you’re right,” Liam says dumbly. “But Dani wants to stay until the end, her boyfriend’s in the audience anyway and he’s saved us two seats so I’ll be watching.”

“Excellent!” Louis says with a huge Cheshire cat smile, shooing the girl off. 

The door opposite them opens suddenly and the guy who stood next to the Adonis from earlier steps out with a cheeky smile. “Babe, you need to dial it down with the showing me off. People already think my head’s getting too big.” He steps out behind Louis and kisses the top of his head and places one of his large hands on Louis’ tiny waist. Liam watches as Louis leans into Harry’s chest happily and readily accepts the other hand Harry’s holding out for him to shake.

“Harry Styles, one of the best models around, if you’re to believe this one.”

“Liam Payne, boxer and model’s best friend,” Liam says, shaking Harry’s hand firmly. Harry raises a curious eyebrow.

“Boxer, eh? Don’t think we’ve ever had a boxer at London Fashion Week, at least not in the four years I’ve been here. Isn’t this bad for your street cred?”

“Street cred is immaterial if it means being on the other end of my best friend of eighteen years,” Liam says with a chuckle. He hears the door behind him click open. “Speaking of best friends of eighteen years, this is mine. Harry, this is Dani.”

Dani’s mouth drops open. “I- I- Well, obviously I know Harry Styles, my _god_.” She gulps and extends her hand. “Hi.”

“Hi, love,” he says taking it happily. “Zayn and I have been watching you from in there on the screen. You were one of the few who really stuck out, you’re good!”

Dani blushes but the grin spreading across her face makes up for it. “Really?! That’s… I mean… wow, thank you!”

“No problem, love. Zayn and I have the privilege of choosing a few names to recommend for Milan Fashion Week and you’re a serious contender.”

“Harry, you can’t just go around telling people that, you idiot!” comes a gravelly voice from the doorway. Liam turns and sees the Adonis from earlier standing shirtless in the doorway of the room that Harry had come out of. Liam’s mouth drops open along with Dani’s but she recovers quicker and gives him a subtle kick into the side of his leg so he closes it again.

“But Zaaaaayn,” Harry whines dramatically, rocking Louis back and forth. “Look, this is the one we really liked.”

Zayn pushes his hair out of his forehead and steps out, surveying Dani up and down. She grips Liam’s hand nervously as he nods and says to Harry “yeah, I agree with you, she has great potential. Just stop announcing our plans to people like this, we’ll get into trouble again.”

“Yes, mum,” grumbles Harry, pulling Louis closer who snorts and wraps his arm around Harry’s waist.

“And what about you?” Zayn then questions, turning to look at Liam, who flushes right up to his hairline. “Are you a male model? If you’re not you should be, babe.”

Dani snorts and turns her head into his arm as Liam tries to remember how to form a sentence. 

“Me? N-n-no, definitely n-not,” Liam stammers out finally.

“He’s a boxer, actually,” inputs Louis and Zayn raises an eyebrow. 

“Shame, you’re bloody gorgeous. But gorgeous in the right way, like you clearly aren’t aware how gorgeous you are.”

Dani’s full-on laughing now and Liam is the same shade as the dress she was wearing earlier. Zayn’s grinning too but it’s more of a smirk than it is kind and Liam feels too hot all over.

The corridor is suddenly filled with girls coming back off the runway, signalling the end of the first show. As they walk down the corridor whispers of “oh my god, there’s Harry Styles!” and “fuck me, how gorgeous is Zayn in real life though?” are prominent and Louis pulls away from Harry’s side reluctantly. 

“I’d better start prepping the new girls for the second show; we’ve only got three quarters of an hour.”

Harry leans down and kisses him and all the models gasp but Louis ignores them, cupping Harry’s cheek delicately. 

“Love you babe, see you in a few hours,” Harry murmurs. Louis pecks him one last time and murmurs “I love you too” back before he scuttles off.

“Lovely to meet you all, see you soon Dani!” he chirps over his shoulder.

“We’d better head back into our room but it was lovely meeting you two,” Harry says earnestly, reaching forward to give Dani a hug. Liam stands awkwardly at the side and tries to look anywhere but at Zayn, which is definitely easier said than done.

When they break apart, Zayn leans forward and takes Dani’s hand in his, kissing it princess-style. “Lovely to meet you,” he says lowly. He drops Dani’s hand and makes sure to brush past Liam’s as he brings his own back to himself, smirking again at how quickly Liam’s face changes red. “Both of you, of course,” he tacks on the end, turning on his heel and disappearing back into the room behind them.

Harry tips a fake hat and follows and as the door closes Liam lets out the breath he didn’t even realise he was holding in and Dani lets out a squeal. 

“Come on, we’ve left your boy waiting for too long,” Liam says hurriedly, eager to get out of the corridor and back into the real world. Dani nods but she’s skipping excitedly like a small child and Liam can’t help but grin back because he’s so fucking proud of his best friend he feels like his heart could burst.

There’s currently an interval so the foyer is milling with people but Liam spots the familiar blonde head of his best friend’s fiancé almost immediately and suddenly Dani’s no longer by his side but in Niall’s arms, being kissed over and over as he spins her round movie-style.

Dani’s laughing and both hands are cupping Niall’s pale cheeks and in all their eighteen years of friendship he’s never seen her look as happy as she does in that moment. Niall sets her down and kisses her again and she launches straight into the story of Liam meeting Louis who then lead her to Harry and how she can’t quite believe that she was their favourite when really she was nothing compared to some of the girls in there.

Both Liam and Niall snort at that and Dani blushes before slinging one arm around Liam’s waist and interlocking her fingers with Niall on her other side. “How are our seats, sweetie?” she asks.

“Not the best but we can see everything, we’re just quite far back,” Niall tells them, leading the way into the auditorium. The collection that was being modelled next was the biggest one for women’s fashion and then after that was the big one for men’s fashion. Niall has a programme poking out of his blazer pocket and as he and Dani snuggle up in their seats, Liam fishes it out and flicks through it.

The last double page spread is dedicated entirely to Harry Styles and Zayn Malik, who are the major male models of this season. Zayn is described as “exotic, tantalising and of devastating beauty that rivals few others.” Liam almost laughs out loud at that because yeah, he bloody well is.

The second women’s show starts and lasts for about an hour. Liam wants to be as excited as Dani because she’s so in her element here and she’s grinning like a kid on Christmas. Niall is just watching her as though she’s the greatest thing in the whole world and Liam is so so grateful that he’s good for her and that even in a room surrounded by hundreds of beautiful girls, he still only has eyes for one.

Liam finds himself taking a sort-of nap with his eyes open and then the lights are back on and there’s an announcement saying there’s to be a half hour interval before the men’s final show. 

Dani bounces eagerly in her seat. “I cannot wait to see Zayn and Harry, they’re going to be incredible. They always steal the show, no wonder they decided to introduce menswear into the Week when they have models of this calibre.”

Liam swallows and nods, tapping his feet impatiently. Niall excuses himself briefly to go to the loo and once he’s gone Dani reaches forward and pulls Liam’s hands into her own.

“Hey, Li,?” 

Liam looks at her nervously. He has no doubt she knows; they’ve always been able to read each other like open books. Dani would never judge him for anything either.

“You’re the cutest, you know that?” she says simply, bringing his knuckles up to her mouth and kissing them softly. “He seemed into you too, if it helps.”

Out of natural instinct, Liam looks around to make sure nobody heard. He knows it’s super unlikely that people even recognise him but he can’t run that risk, he _can’t_.

He tells Dani this. “Plus it’s not like I’m ever going to see him again. It’s just a crush anyway. I know nothing about him and he’ll have forgotten by tomorrow. And even in an ideal world it’s not like I can go for it, I’ve worked _too hard_ , Dani.”

Dani squeezes his hand reassuringly. “I know, babe, but you need to do something for yourself too sometimes. You won’t be a boxer forever.”

Liam snorts. “I know, but then I’ll have forever to find someone and it won’t matter. It’s just… it’s not a good time for me to even think about boys, no matter how pretty.”

“I know, babe, I know. It just makes me so angry because you deserve someone so much; you deserve that kind of happiness, you know?”

Liam nods but he isn’t sure he agrees. He’s been totally willing for three years now to keep his sexuality completely under wraps and he knows that it would take someone incredibly special to risk spilling his biggest secret that could (unfairly, he knows) jeopardise his entire future in the sport.

Liam came out to Danielle when he was sixteen. The pair had always been inseparable ever since Playgroup and it was reaching the point where all their school mates were saying it was only days until they got together. Liam had known that Dani was a beautiful girl and highly sought after by all the lads in their school but he had never ever thought of her like that, which made him begin to question why.

It had happened one day when him and Dani were about sixteen and were sat watching Iron Man and he had muttered “fuck me, Robert Downing Jr. is so fit!” He had then blanched and stared blankly and worriedly at Dani, unsure of what to say but Dani had held him through the tears and the panic and murmured reassurances into his ear over and over again.

He knew he couldn’t go public because he was going to be scouted a few weeks later for the World Championship Boxing so he told his mum, dad and sisters and they were the only ones who know to this day, apart from Dani and Niall.

And now he’s number fourteen in the world for his sport and he’s so proud of how far he’s come but it definitely hasn’t gotten any easier hearing words like “faggot” and “cocksucker” passed around the changing rooms and gyms as banter. It does help him channel more of his aggression into the sport though and he’s really fucking good but it also doesn’t help that part of the pent up aggression might be sexual frustration because it’s not like he can go out and pull a bloke, is it?

He’d slept with a handful of girls in his time but he hadn’t for a year because the idea kind of made him feel a bit ill nowadays. So yeah, he’s not lying when he says that he can’t risk it yet for any pretty boys, no matter how pretty their cheekbones.

Niall slides back into his seat next to Dani and interlocks their fingers. Dani rubs over Liam’s knee reassuringly and then leans back into Niall’s touch. Liam sits in silence thinking until the lights dim and the announcer says “Autumn/Winter Collection 2014, Menswear, Burberry.”

A rock song kicks into life loudly over the speakers and then Harry’s walking down the catwalk wearing a long green trench coat and very skinny trousers. He looks absolutely in his element, his face focused and devastatingly beautiful. He poses at the end, winks cheekily at Victoria Beckham and then walks back. Liam can see exactly why he’s one of the most sought after models in the world, he owns his role.

Next walks out Zayn and Liam forgets how to breathe. He’s wearing black trousers and a white shirt with some kind of leather waistcoat tied across his chest with a heavy black trench coat over the top. Even from a distance Liam can tell he’s smirking, walking down the catwalk with the right amount of hip wiggle and he is genuinely breath-taking. 

“Down boy,” Dani giggles into his shoulder and Liam is snapped out of his trance. Another model that he doesn’t recognise is now on the catwalk and Liam shakes his head and offers a small, innocent smile to Dani, who slaps him playfully and rests her head on his shoulder as they continue to watch.

The show lasts about an hour and in that time Zayn and Harry have modelled about ten outfits each. Each time Zayn had walked out Liam was well aware that his breath had quite obviously hitched and Dani had noticed but he didn’t care because he could tell he wasn’t the only one that Zayn was wowing. 

The show ends as it’s getting dark outside. Liam trails after the happy couple towards Niall’s Land Rover with Dani chatting animatedly about how fucking good the show was and how she cannot believe she got to live her dream today and Niall can’t stop beaming at her like she hung the moon.

Liam slides himself into the backseat of the car and sits quietly for the rest of the journey back, unwilling to take away from Dani’s happiness. The drive back to their apartment building isn’t long, maybe twenty minutes and in that time Dani hasn’t stopped talking. Liam smiles because he knows how pumped he feels before and after a big fight and even though he knows it’s not exactly the same, hers happens a little less frequently.

Niall drives into the underground garage of their apartment building. It’s a lovely building in the centre of London and they’re lucky they can afford it but Liam earns well from fights and Dani’s job as a dancer at the O2 for big acts is also rather generous.

Liam remembers when him and Dani had first moved to London after sixth form. Both had known that they weren’t clever enough for university but both had big dreams so had worked as hard as they could while completing A-levels and had saved as much as possible. Their first flat had been crummy and Liam had slept in the living room on a pull-out bed for the first year but once his fights had started picking up, so had his paycheques. 

The three of them get into the lift from the garage and Dani puts her key into the keyhole that allows the elevator to take them to their floor. It pings open and the three step inside into their open-plan living room, Dani tossing the keys into the basket on the table by the doorway.

Niall heads straight to the kitchen and pulls out a Chinese takeaway menu, calling it his treat. Liam politely declines because he’s on a strict calorie-controlled, high-protein diet for his upcoming fight but Dani skips past them to her room and calls “order him a chicken fried rice anyway, you know he can’t resist!”

Niall rolls his eyes fondly and orders then snaps the TV on, letting MTV play quietly in the background. Dani pads back out in a pair of Niall’s sweatpants and one of Liam’s tops and snuggles between them on the sofa.

“Thank you both for today, so much. Honestly, I can’t explain how much it means to me that you were both there supporting me and I love you both a lot.”

Liam smacks a kiss on her cheek and then hops to his feet. “Love you more Danibear. You two have a good night, I’m going to turn in I think.”

Dani looks up confused. “Li, it’s not even eight.”

“Yeah but I’ve got training at six am and, you know…” Liam trails off. Really, he just feels exhausted and he wants a shower and a wank and to sleep away the mental images of sharp collarbones and dark skin and hazel eyes. 

Dani still looks unconvinced and Niall even says “mate, you’re not third wheeling if that’s what’s worrying you; it’s your flat, not mine!” but Liam shrugs them off, quickly mixing himself up one of his disgusting protein shakes and then heading off to the bathroom. 

“I love you two, enjoy your dinner!” he calls, hoping it sounds as sincere as he means it to. 

He chugs his protein shake and has himself a long shower where he braces himself against the tiles and pumps himself hard where he definitely doesn’t think about the sharp collarbones, dark skin or the hazel eyes. Once he’s come and it’s washed from his hand he shuts the water off and towels himself dry, wrapping it around his waist before he cleans his teeth. He walks out the bathroom and looks over to the living room. Dani is sat in Niall’s lap and they’re both eating noodles, focused on each other rather than whatever’s playing on the TV.

Liam bats down the pang of jealousy and heads back to his room, pulling on a fresh pair of boxers and sliding under the duvet. It takes all his self-control not to grab his iPad and start googling pictures of Zayn Malik but he resists and eventually falls into a fretful sleep.

Six am training sessions have never been Liam’s favourite but when Marimba blasts loudly through his bedroom at quarter past five he groans and moves slower than usual. He pads to the bathroom and cleans his teeth before heading to the kitchen and making up three more protein shakes and slipping them into his sports bag. He pulls on a pair of shorts and one of his old vests, grabs a hoodie from his wardrobe then slips as quietly as he can out the door into the lift, even though he knows Niall sleeps like the dead and Dani’s lived with him long enough to sleep through his early mornings.

He drives in silence down the empty streets to the gym and gets there with ten minutes to spare. It’s bloody freezing, what with it being February, so he heads straight inside and goes straight into the locker room, grabbing a shake from his bag and downing it as he tosses his bag, keys and hoodie into his locker. 

“Alright, Payne? You’re early, you faggot!” calls out Andy, another boxer at the club. Liam cringes internally but changes his face into a smile as he turns round to accept Andy’s fist bump.

“Morning to you too, you loser. Saw you won against that twat Max George, good show there!”

“Cheers, mate!” Andy beams and slaps Liam’s arse cheerfully as he walks out. Liam leans against the locker and takes a deep breath before following him.

His trainer, Paul, is driving hard and after his two hour training session he’s aching all over but he knows he’s closer to being ready for his big fight next week. If he wins this, he’s going to be knocked up to number twelve in the sport, as well as qualifying for the semi-finals. He’s nervous as shit but his teammates are supportive and Paul is pleased, so that’s something.

“Right, Payne,” Paul calls over to him as he’s grabbing his bag to go home. “You’re getting there, I’d say you’ll be absolutely ready in the next week so make sure you stick to your diet plan, don’t strain yourself and only come when you absolutely have to. You need the nervous energy.”

He winks and slaps Liam on the back before disappearing into his office, not noticing Liam’s blush. Andy does though and laughs, slinging an arm over his shoulders as they both head for the exit. “To be honest, I don’t know how you’re not cracking out five a day living with that gorgeous piece of…”

“Whatever you’re about to say,” Liam cuts him off, “don’t fucking say it.”

Andy laughs again. “So you’ve never been even a little tempted to hit that?”

Liam stops walking and lets Andy’s arm drop from his shoulder. “Never. Danielle is essentially my sister, we’ve been friends since we were in nappies, for crying out loud. Plus she’s happily engaged to the love of her life, you know that.”

Andy looks thoughtful. “Still, you’d think you’d try it once or twice…”

“Can we not have this conversation?” Liam interrupts sharply, unlocking his car from across the car park.

Andy shrugs but does drop it. “Whatever, you queer,” he says playfully. “See you tomorrow!”

Liam waves him off and goes and sits in his own car, waiting until Andy’s driven off before starting his own car and driving home, his mind racing. Was it obvious that he wasn’t into girls if he was so against the idea of sleeping with Dani? It’s reasonable to say she’s like a sister because that’s all she is – he’s probably closer to her than his own sisters – but he knows how beautiful she is so if he was straight he definitely would have been attracted to her at some point, right?

He drives home quickly, wanting nothing more than a hug at this point in time from the one person who knows he can trust and tell anything to. When he finally arrives back in the apartment he’s greeted with the sight of Dani frying bacon at the stove, Niall’s arms wrapped tightly around her waist shimmying her around as the Spice Girls blare over the speakers.

Kicking his bag over into the corner, he tosses his keys to the side and goes and jokingly wraps his arms around Niall’s waist and the three of them dance around playfully until the bacon starts to burn and Dani bats them both away. She dishes up a huge mound for Niall, a few slices and a large scoop of eggs for Liam then one piece and one scoop of eggs for herself.

“How was training, babe?” Dani asks as she hands Niall his plate, pecking him quickly on the lips before she sits down.

“Tiring but Paul thinks I’m nearly there. Got reminded of the usual rules – no straying from the diet plan, no alcohol, no having fun, no breathing in the wrong direction, that kind of thing,” Liam splutters out through a mouthful of egg.

When they’ve finished up, Dani heads over to the kitchen to stack the dishwasher and Niall heads to the shower before he has to head into work at ten. Liam heads back to his room and waits for Niall to leave because even though he loves him, he kind of just wants to have this conversation with Dani. 

He hears Dani kiss Niall goodbye and he’s barely out the door before she’s in Liam’s bed with him, arms around his waist because she knows him better than he knows himself.

“Spill, babe. Are you still hung up on the Zayn thing or did something happen at training?”

Liam sighs and buries his head into Dani’s curls. “Both, really. Like I was with Andy today and he kept asking me how come you and I had never hooked up. And I said it’s because you’re basically my sister and you’re engaged and happy and all but he looked so confused and I…”

“Hey, hey. That’s a totally reasonable excuse. I’m straight and I’ve never had a crush on you because you’re my brother, you know? Even before Niall.”

“I know, I know. And like, if I win this fight I’m going to be number twelve in the world, right? But if I came out that would ruin everything, how the fuck is that _fair?_ ” Liam growls.

Dani runs a reassuring hand up and down his arm. “It’s not fucking fair, babe. But you’re good and you deserve the title and you’re _good._ I say, wait until this tournament is over and then talk to Paul.”

“But would it be worth it? It’s not like I have anybody to come out for…”

“You have _yourself_ to come out for! You owe this to yourself. You deserve someone so much and like, I can’t even get my head round how sexually frustrated you must be all the damn time,” she says and Liam snorts.

He keeps rubbing his hands up and down Dani’s arms, thinking. “Okay, after I win the tournament I’ll talk to Paul. Fuck it. Someone needs to sort this bullshit situation out.”

Dani cheers and hugs him closer. “You’re going to be ace, babes. And remember, you’re my favourite thing in the world and I’ll stick by you forever, yeah?”

“Yeah, I know,” Liam says because he does. “I love you so much, you’re the best fake sister any closeted sportsman could ask for.”

They lie in silence for a long time until Liam clears his throat. “If you had to, would you pick your career or Niall?”

Dani stills. “Jesus,” she hisses. “What the hell kind of question is that?”

“Like, I’ve never been in love, obviously, but just… is it worth sacrificing your whole career over?”

Dani rolls over out of his arms and cups his cheek gently. “Liam, my god. Babe, this is such a hard question to answer because I- I was lucky and I found my soulmate when I was young but that doesn’t mean you will, no offence. And you coming out is so much more than sacrificing your career for love, it’s for the fact that you shouldn’t ever be afraid to be yourself and you shouldn’t be afraid to go out and find someone because you’re worried about not being accepted because that’s wrong, that’s so wrong!”

Liam takes a deep breath and nods into her hair. “You’re right, I’m sorry. It’s just... I’m so… fuck Dani…”

“I know, I know,” she murmurs over and over as she cradles his head against her chest comfortingly. 

He’s grateful that he doesn’t have much time to dwell on it because the next week and a half are packed for Liam.

Training happens every day for up to five hours and he’s knackered and his muscles ache but he’s so close and he can practically taste victory. His opponent, a boxer named Parker who’s currently number seven in the world, is smaller than him but he’s nimble and powerful so Liam’s been practicing dodging surprise moves and anticipating quick jabs.

Two days before his big fight, Liam, Dani and Niall are watching _Keeping Up With The Kardashians_ when Dani’s phone rings. It’s an unknown number so she answers it tentatively.

“Hello?” she says with a lilt? Her eyes grow big as the person on the other end replies and she’s suddenly scuttling out the room and away from the loud TV. 

“What do you reckon that’s about?” Niall asks, peering forward to watch Dani pace up and down their hallway.

“No idea, work maybe?” Liam questions. The answer comes a few minutes later when Dani comes bounding back into the room, her eyes glinting and a huge beam spreading across her face.

“Harry Styles! Harry Styles wants me to come in and interview to model for Milan AND Paris Fashion Week!” 

“Oh my god, baby!” Niall yells and engulfs her in a tight embrace. She hangs on tightly and laughs into his shoulder, hand cupping his neck to pull him down into a kiss. She then jumps into Liam’s arms and lets him spin her around dramatically. 

“When is it?” Niall asks as he pulls her back into his arms after Liam’s set her down. 

“Thursday! It’s so soon but I’ve got a portfolio already so now it’s just a case of working out what to wear…” She gasps suddenly and balls her hand into a fist and smacks her forehead. “Your fight, Li! Fucking hell, I’m so sorry!”

“No, don’t you dare stress about that! This is your big break! You’ve been to, like, every single other fights I’ve done,” Liam argues and she beams again.

“We’ll definitely come to the ring and see you though, won’t we Ni? We might just be late.”

Niall nods happily, resting his chin on Dani’s head. “’Course Li! I finish work at seven so even if Dani can’t make it, I’ll be there.”

“Cheers, Ni,” Liam says with a smile.

The truth is, Liam always felt ten times more nervous when anyone he knew, particularly Dani and Niall or his parents, were in the audience so this would almost be a good thing, he thinks.

Dani’s now turned around and has her tongue in Niall’s mouth so Liam ducks away, shouting out a playful “disgusting!” as he slams his bedroom door.

He can practically hear them flipping him off.

*

Zayn is bored.

It’s not that he doesn’t like helping scout for the new models but to be honest all the girls are starting to look the same and none of the boys are even that hot. Plus Harry is paying him little to no attention because whenever they’re not mid-interview he’s texting Louis with this goofy smile on his face that makes Zayn feel nauseous as fuck and the two female models on the panel are bland as anything and offer little to no conversation.

It’s getting to five o’clock and Zayn desperately wants a fag but they’ve got one more girl to interview and he couldn’t care less. He’d let Harry choose most of the potential models anyway and he knows that he and Harry have essentially little to no say in what happens eventually – the agency will choose the models in the end.

“Last one,” says Harry cheerfully, locking his phone and sliding it on the table. “Peazer, Danielle. Five foot nine, gorgeous head of curls, remember her? She’s the one with the fit bloke you’ve been wanking over since.”

Zayn snorts and kicks his feet up so they’re lying across all the papers and CVs on the desk. Harry squawks and swats them away, trying to rescue the papers. “Alright, fine. The fit bloke you thought was fit but you haven’t thought about since, okay?”

Zayn grins but doesn’t make an effort to move his feet. “That’s more like it. Just because you’re getting regular sex now does not mean that I, as a single and sex-deprived individual, does not mean…”

He’s cut off by a knock at the door. “Come in!” chirps Harry and a familiar girl walks inside. She’s wearing tight black trousers and a soft white blouse and her hair is styled so it falls over her shoulders delicately. She looks phenomenal and her smile is wide as she steps forward and offers her hand for the four models to shake. 

Harry, being Harry, takes her hand and kisses her knuckles instead. She flushes and Zayn rolls his eyes as he shakes her hand with a cheeky smile “Hiya, Dani, lovely to meet you again.”

Danielle slides into the seat on the desk so she’s opposite them and Zayn has to admit he’s impressed by how composed she’s keeping herself. The last model they had interviewed had been so nervous her voice had cracked almost every sentence and they’d had to stop halfway through so she could get her breathing back to normal.

The interview questions are pretty standard – main interests and hobbies outside of modelling (“I’m a dancer and my best friend is a boxer so I attend all his fights”), favourite models and designers (“Cara Delevigne and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, clichéd as that may be”), describe your personal style (“comfortable yet glamorous, I think, I like to start simple but follow through with statement pieces”), your favourite photoshoot you’ve ever done (“I did this one for my dancing portfolio and I was wearing a black crop top and black shorts with a leather jacket and I have to say, I looked damn good. Also my fiancé _really_ enjoyed that one,” she replies and Harry chokes on his water bottle with laughter.) 

“Well, Dani, you certainly know your shit,” says Harry afterwards. “And not just that, you’re still the model that stuck out to me from your first show.” Dani grins widely and toys with her curls. 

“Thank you, my god, that’s such a compliment!” 

“You’re very welcome, my dear. Now you’re the last one so we’re all done here and we can go home, so we’ll be in touch!”

“Hallelujah,” drawls Zayn, kicking his feet off the table and standing up, grabbing his cigarettes from his jacket pocket. The two female models disappear out the back door almost immediately and Harry picks up his phone. 

“Louis’ driving me in ten if you want a lift, Zayner,” he says as he taps away. “Are you all good to get home, Dani?”

Dani looks up from where she was sliding her portfolio back into her bag. “Yeah, I’m fine, thank you. Liam, remember Liam? Well, he’s got a big fight tonight so I’m heading over to the boxing ring now, it’s only a fifteen minute walk or so.”

Zayn freezes, his cigarette halfway to his lips. Of course he remembers Liam, he thinks bitterly. He doesn’t know how to think of anything but Liam, even though Liam is a boxer and almost definitely straight so why should he care if he’s got a fight tonight and he’s probably topless and sweaty and…

Harry snorts at him and slides his phone into his pocket. “Is it safe for you to go there on your own? I mean, I don’t know much about boxing but I can’t imagine it’s the safest environment for beautiful women to walk into alone.”

“Well, I’m usually alright. Everyone from his gym knows me so they don’t give me that much shit and I’m meeting Niall – he’s my fiancé – there too.” She pauses. “You could come if you wanted?” she asks nervously. “I have a VIP Pass that allows me in with two guests and I could text Niall and ask him to meet me so all of you could get in…” she trails off. “That was a stupid thing to ask, I’m sorry.”

“No, no, I’d like to come,” says Zayn, surprising everyone, especially himself. He smothers down his t-shirt and tucks his cigarette in his lips. “What?” he says muffledly around the filter as Harry gapes at him and Dani struggles for words. 

“That’s… wow… that’s really cool!” Dani finally exclaims, pulling her bag onto her shoulder. “Liam would really like that.” 

Zayn turns his head so they can’t see him blush. He’s going to flat out deny that he’s going to see Liam again until he’s blue in the face. Why shouldn’t he have developed an interest in boxing in the last ninety seconds? It could happen to anyone.

The door opens then and Louis walks in, smiling wide as he sees Harry. “Hiya!” he says cheerily to the room and Harry is over to him in about three strides, kissing him happily. Zayn groans and rolls his cigarette around his lips and Dani laughs as she steps over to Zayn’s side.

When they finally break apart, Louis squeals and pulls Dani into a tight hug like he’s known her for years. “Yay, I’m so happy you’re here! You were my favourite model in that room, didn’t I say she was the best Haz?”

“Oh stop it, I’m going to get a big head,” Dani says playfully, though she’s blushing happily. 

“This is kind of totally unprofessional, but we’re going to hang out now, is that cool with you, Lou?” Harry says, dropping his arm over Louis’ shoulders.

Louis laughs. “Sounds excellent. Where are we going?”

“Um, you remember Liam?” 

“Of course I remember Liam!”

“Well, he’s got his quarter finals boxing match that starts in…” she checks her watch and her eyes widen, “ten minutes ago, _shit_.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m driving. Are we, er, are we all going?” Louis asks with a glance at Zayn.

“Yes,” Zayn says surely. “Can I smoke in your car?”

Louis sighs. “Only if you smoke out the window. Now come on,” he says, laughing as Dani jumps impatiently on the balls of her feet.

Zayn lights up the second they get outside the building and Harry smacks him upside the head fondly. They all pile into Louis’ car and Dani directs him to the ring easily. They get there in about ten minutes and Dani pulls out her phone, tapping out a quick message to Niall.

“Give me a second, Niall’s on his way,” Dani says as she drops her phone back into her bag. He emerges a few moments later and laces their fingers quickly. “Everyone, this is my fiancé. Ni, this is Harry, Louis and Zayn.”

“Hi guys, look, we need to get back in there _now_ , he is _smashing_ it!” he says gleefully, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket.

He leads them through the gates and the stewards check their tickets again and direct them to their seats. The stadium is pretty big but Dani and Niall lead the other three to one of the more private boxes, which is pretty empty.

“This is the family box for Fighter One, but his parents can’t make it very often because they’re all the way back in Wolverhampton,” Niall explains. Zayn looks up and sees Liam in the ring, a large intimidating man barking instructions at him. He’s got a mouth guard in and he’s dripping with sweat but he looks fucking sexy. Wait. No, he doesn’t. Zayn doesn’t fancy him, no sir.

The bell dings and suddenly Liam springs into action, leaping to his feet and dancing around his opponent. Zayn doesn’t know the rules of boxing in the slightest but he can’t take his eyes off Liam as he jabs, ducks and slams into his opponent. 

Before Zayn can even register what’s going on, Liam has knocked his opponent to the floor with a particularly hard jab in the ribs and he’s being declared the victor. Dani screams “YES!” and leaps into Niall’s arms and Harry and Louis are clapping happily as Liam is pulled into a hug by the intimidating trainer and a bloke who leapt into the ring the second the bell announced the end of the match.

“He’s bloody good,” Harry says happily as the crowds start to disperse. 

Dani can’t stop beaming. “This win means he’s now not only bumped up to number twelve but he’s also through to the semi-finals!” She squeals elatedly, jumping up and down in Niall’s arms. “I’m just so damn proud of him!” She turns to look at the three. “Sorry that was so short.”

“It’s fine, I really enjoyed it!” Louis says, leaning back onto Harry’s chest. “So what happens now?”

“We tend to wait until he texts us because he’s got interviews and shit, plus he’s, like, the worst smelling person ever after a match so we don’t let him in the car until he’s showered,” Niall grins. “We were gonna take him out for a meal to celebrate the win at his favourite Italian, you guys are more than welcome to join us.”

“That’d be really lovely,” says Harry enthusiastically, “if we’re not intruding, I mean.”

“Of course not! I think it’ll do Li some good to chat with people who aren’t either us two or other boxers.”

“Goodo! I can’t wait to talk to you some more about your other modelling projects…” Harry launches into a spiel and Zayn rolls his eyes, fingers itching for a cigarette.

“You’re coming too, right Zayn?” asks Louis, as if sensing his discomfort.

“Uh, yeah, course?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?” giggles Louis. He turns to Niall. “Our Zayn here doesn’t do going out much, unless there’s a shag at the end of it, of course.”

“Oh fuck off Lou,” whines Zayn but there’s no real malice behind it because it’s the truth and he definitely isn’t thinking about shagging Liam, not even a little bit.

Niall and Louis laugh along with him and they banter back and forth until Niall’s phone starts playing Boyfriend by Justin Bieber loudly. Zayn and Louis laugh loudly at that and Niall flips them both off with a grin as he answers. “Alright Li? Yeah, sick match bro! Okay, cool, we’ll come find you now then we’re off to Gianni’s. ‘K, bye!”

He then puts his hand gently on Dani’s shoulder. “The boy’s done. Let’s go find him.”

The five of them trail out to the back entrance, where Liam is stood leaning against a wall, downing a bottle of water. He spots Dani and opens his arms as she jumps into them, legs wrapping around his waist as he lifts her like she weighs nothing.

“I. Am. So. Fucking. Proud. Of. You!” Dani cries, punctuating each word with a giant smacking kiss to his face. Liam laughs and playfully bats her away, setting her down again a second later. He’s smiling so wide that his eyes crinkle but they suddenly drop when he sees Zayn.

“Oh,” he says almost nervously, which makes Zayn feel more nervous than he had before. Maybe not so straight then?

“You remember Harry and Louis and Zayn, don’t you?” Dani asks Liam cautiously. Liam nods and the two look at each other for a long time as if having some sort of secret best friend conversation with their eyes. Zayn looks back and forth between Niall and the pair but Niall is laughing at something that Harry had said and so he just stood there awkwardly.

“Yeah, sure I do,” Liam says finally, dropping his arm over Dani’s shoulders and nodding at the three in front of him. “Nice to see you all again.” He kisses Dani’s temple and turns around to the exit, leading them out. Harry links his hand with Louis’ and they follow suit so Zayn trails the group with Niall.

“So, like, do you never get jealous of those two?” he asks hurriedly. “Shit, that’s so rude, I’m sorry, I just…”

Niall throws his head back and laughs loudly, which doesn’t seem to faze Dani or Liam in the slightest but Louis turns around looking confused.

“Not even a little bit, mate, don’t you worry. It’s like, would you get jealous of your girlfriend spending time with her brother? Nahhh!” he laughs again and Zayn is taken aback but he can’t help but laugh along with the bloke.

They reach the car park and Liam beeps his Land Rover open. “So I’m guessing you guys drove here?” Louis nods, gesturing over to his own car. “Do you wanna just follow us then? It’s like a twenty minute trip, it’s over in Westminster, you see.”

Louis nods, fishing his own car keys out of his pocket. “Sure thing. Harry, have you got Dani’s number in case we get separated?”

Harry shakes his head but wiggles his phone out of his impossibly tight jeans and hands it over to Dani, who smiles as she types it in. “Excellent, see you shortly!” she calls, letting herself into Liam’s car. 

Zayn looks over to Liam, who he knows is staring at him. He gives him a small smirk then ducks his head before heading over to Louis’ car.

*

Liam has gone from feeling on top of the world to feeling like he’s been punched in the stomach. 

“Li, fuck, I’m sorry! I was so excited about Harry saying that I was almost a dead cert and then he asked me what I was doing after this and I said I was meeting you here and I just invited them in a panic and I know it was stupid and I’m so so so sorry!” Dani babbles, leaning over from the passenger seat to hug him as best she can.

“It’s fine, honestly,” Liam says, though he knows neither Niall nor Dani believes him. He puts his key in the ignition and tries to focus on driving but those cheekbones and that dark skin and those hazel eyes are back at the forefront of his mind as Dani prattles out more apologies.

“Dani, look, it’s fine! It’s fine, I promise, it’s just unexpected.”

“But you _fancy_ him, Li! And you haven’t fancied anyone in so long and I know you really don’t need the distractions right now and…”

“Babe, listen. I fancy him a little bit, okay, yes, but I hardly know the bloke and it’s helping you get connections! It doesn’t matter about me, promise.”

“Are you absolutely sure?”

“Well,” interjects Niall, “it’s a bit late to ask that because they are actually coming with us now.”

“It’s _fine_! Can we not focus on this and focus on the fact that I won?”

Dani whoops and Niall ruffles Liam’s hair at the traffic lights and the three of them sing We Are the Champions until they pull up into a familiar car park. 

The three of them hop out the car just as Louis’ pulls in a few spaces down. Dani’s holding Niall’s hand and Louis is holding Harry’s hand so almost naturally Zayn and Liam fall into step as they head inside.

“Hiya!” greets their waitress, grabbing menus from the side of the bar. “Table for six?”

“Please,” says Dani. The group are led to a corner table where Harry tucks himself around the corner to sit at the furthest point from the door. Louis sits to his left and Zayn sits next to him and then Dani moves in to sit by Harry’s right side, leaving Liam no choice but to sit opposite Harry, therefore next to Zayn.

Pretty soon, Harry, Louis, Niall and Dani are caught up in a fierce discussion about the dynamics of shows and how they’re always looking for sound technicians willing to travel, if Niall is interested. Liam sits toying with his napkin uncomfortably until Zayn clears his throat. 

“I was, er, quite impressed with your fight earlier, I have to say. You looked good out there and I don’t know the first thing about boxing.”

A flush creeps up Liam’s neck and he can feel it prickle all the way up to his eyebrows. “Ur, thanks man. I mean, there’s not really a lot to it…”

“I’m sure that’s not true at all,” Zayn says softly. “In the same way that there’s a lot more to modelling than just wearing clothes and strutting down a catwalk. If it’s your passion then don’t talk it down.”

Liam laughs nervously. “Okay, there’s a lot to it. I’ve been training for this tournament since I was nineteen and I’m now in the semi-finals, it doesn’t seem real, man.”

“Ah, that’s sick! I’m happy for you, you should be very proud of yourself.” 

The waiter drops off their food then: a giant pizza for Niall, three chicken salads for Dani, Harry and Zayn, a bowl of spaghetti carbonara for Louis and half a chicken with salad for Liam.

“So you’ve been boxing since you were how old?” asks Zayn as he stabs a crouton on his fork. 

“Since I was fourteen but I was scouted when I was seventeen. World Champion Boxing scouts came to my little gym in Wolverhampton, saw me box, encouraged me to move to London when I was done with sixth form and train with Paul Higgins – he’s my current trainer. Dani and I moved down when we were eighteen because she wanted to model and I wanted to box but we didn’t want to leave each other.”

 

“You two are very close,” Zayn observes carefully.

“She’s closer than family, honestly. My rock in everything.”

“And where did she meet Niall?”

“Oh, she got a gig dancing at the O2 for their bigger shows and Niall works backstage as a techy. They’ve been together about,” Liam pauses to think, “three years now, maybe?”

“Oh wow, that’s cool. And you’re never like,” Zayn swallows a bite of chicken nervously, “jealous?”

“Jealous of what they have? Oh yeah,” Liam admits and then blushes hard. “B-but, with her? No way, I’m happy for them. Everyone always thinks that but there’s never been anything there.” He laughs nervously.

“Fair enough man. I think what you and her have is really nice,” Zayn says sincerely, because he does. He’s never had a friend like that and he’s never really had any boyfriends of worth so he’s never really let anyone in like that. Harry is definitely the one he would call his best friend but he had Louis now so they spend a lot less time together.

“What about you?” Liam asks. “How did you get into modelling?”

“Because I’m good-looking as fuck and it’s easy money,” answers Zayn easily. He waits a few seconds to gage Liam’s reaction and snorts as his eyes grow huge. “I’m joking, I’m joking. I came to London because I wanted to sing. I met Harry, he lived next door to me in my first piece of shit flat block and he was doing a bought walk on a catwalk for Burberry. I tagged along to watch him, I was scouted, here I am!”

“Oh wow, that’s really cool!” Liam says enthusiastically, his eyes crinkling with a smile so genuine that Zayn can’t help but smile back. “Do you still want to sing?”

Zayn is taken aback by Liam’s question. “I… well, I… I guess so. I haven’t thought about it in a while because I’ve been earning so well with modelling but I mean, I wouldn’t be adverse to the idea.”

“If it’s your passion you should do it,” says Liam firmly. “It’s what you said to me a few minutes ago.”

Zayn grins with his mouth around a tomato. “Yeah, alright. Smartarse.”

Liam shrugs his shoulders, his wide grin never faltering.

*

After that night, the six of them all exchange numbers and fall into an easy friendship. Harry, Louis and Zayn become regular fixtures in their flat and their fridge becomes stocked full of Louis’ favourite beer, flavoured water and bananas for Harry and Weetabix for Zayn.

Liam is still crushing on Zayn like mad which is so fucking hard because he knows Zayn is gay but he doesn’t know if he’s willing to let himself go the distance with someone like that. Zayn’s in the papers a lot with his love life speculations and even though he doesn’t think Zayn would rat him out, he can’t risk it until he knows it’s worth it, he reasons with himself.

However, the sexual tension is sky high whenever they’re in a group. None of them have outright asked if Liam is gay though, he’s just told them that he’s too preoccupied with the tournament to even consider a relationship right now, which seemed to wash with them.

Dani gets a call about three weeks after their first meal from Burberry telling her they want her to come for a meeting with their final team for Milan Fashion Week. They said that Harry Styles gave her rave reviews and they’ve watched a few of her dance videos and they’re incredibly impressed with her stage presence and if she gets the job then she’ll be modelling seven outfits in the final Burberry show.

She comes back from her meeting in tears because _of course_ she’s going to Milan. Niall’s at work so Liam hugs her until he can’t anymore then takes her out and treats her to a new pair of shoes like gay best friends do, apparently. She kisses his cheek and tells him to text the gang so they can celebrate that night, because even though they’ve only been friends about five weeks they’ve hardly hung out with anyone else.

Harry and Louis arrive at half seven with pizza. Louis manages to catch the pizza as Harry drops it to engulf Dani in a bone-crushing congratulations hug and Niall hurries to collect the food. “Bless your fast reflexes,” he breathes out happily.

Zayn arrives a little later but also gives Dani a congratulations hug before smacking Harry upside the head for eating pizza. “But I haven’t even cheese in so long!” he whines through a mouthful of Hawaiian. “And we’re celebrating!”

Zayn rolls his eyes and settles on the sofa. “No, but seriously, well done Dani. You deserve it the most out of all the candidates!”

“Thanks, Zee,” she grins from where she’s buried into Niall’s side.

“What else are you gonna do to celebrate?” Louis asks. “Shall we go out on Friday?”

“That would be fun! Liam’s already spoiled me rotten today, haven’t you babe?” she says, poking at his ribs playfully as he swats her away. “Bought me a slap up meal and a pair of gorgeous heels like your gay best friend should.” 

Niall’s eyes grow wide and he coughs and then Dani realises what she’s said and her mouth drops open, looking frantically back and forth between Liam and Niall. “I mean, you know, gay as in my male best friend that isn’t actually my boyfriend or brother but may as well be, I…”

“The jig is up, isn’t it?” Liam mutters and Dani looks about ready to cry.

“Mate,” Harry says, leaning forward. “In case you hadn’t noticed…” He gestures between him and Louis and Louis gives him a double thumbs up. Zayn hasn’t said anything but his mouth is open slightly and he looks confused. 

“We kind of knew, if it helps,” inputs Louis quickly. 

Liam takes a deep breath. “Nobody knows, okay? Nobody except you guys and my parents and my sisters so if you could, like…”

“Mate,” Harry says again with a snort. “Who are we going to tell? And why would we tell them? It’s your life, your secret, you should come out when you’re ready, yeah?”

Liam sighs and scrubs a hand over his face. “Yeah, yeah. It’s fucking shit though, because I don’t know when I’ll be able to come out. Sports like boxing don’t exactly relish ‘faggots’” he air quotes and everyone cringes. “Nobody is out in professional boxing.” He pulls Dani into a hug and kisses her on the temple to show he isn’t mad.

“So change that,” Zayn says simply. Everyone turns to look at him and he shrugs. “It’s only going to change if you make the change.”

Liam looks like he’s been punched. “Excuse me? You think it’s easy being in the closet? You think it’s easy not being able to go out and kiss who I want to?” Dani murmurs something into his ear, presumably calming, but Liam shakes her off. “You think it’s easy not knowing if you’re famous enough to make a difference or insignificant enough that all I’ll get out of it is rejection from what I’ve been working towards all my adult life?” He stands up. “Fuck this.”

He goes into his room and slams the door hard and Dani lets out a choked sob. Niall pulls her onto his lap and lets out a long sigh. “Shit, that’s been brewing for a long time.”

Zayn looks a mixture of mortified and pissed off. “I didn’t mean it like that! I meant it, like…” He tugs on his quiff angrily. 

“I know, mate, I know,” Niall reassures, carding his fingers through Dani’s hair. “It’s just, he’s literally never told anyone that before and you knowing has doubled the amount of us in the know. Give him some time, he’ll come round.”

“Do you want us to go? Give him some space?” asks Louis worriedly. 

“No, no,” Dani says quietly. “Stay, please. Zayn, can you go talk to him?” she pleads.

Zayn groans but stands off and kicks off his shoes. “Yeah okay, I guess I need to, don’t I? Just let me piss first.”

Niall nods. “Sure, sure, you know where it is.”

Zayn shuffles towards the bathroom in socked feet and locks it quickly before balling up his fist and hitting himself on the forehead several times. He couldn’t believe how insensitive he’d been but at the same time, he thought that Liam knew him well enough by now to know that Zayn not only had no real brain to mouth filter, but he also knows from experience that you can’t just throw someone out the closet.

He pisses and then splashes some water on his face before unlocking the door. He pads over to Zayn’s room and knocks on the door gently.

“Li?” There’s no answer. “L-Liam?”

He turns the doorknob and lets himself in. Liam is lying on his bed on his back with his noise cancelling headphones on, his hands covering his face. Zayn shuts the door quietly behind him and pads over to the bed, sitting down by Liam’s knees. 

Liam jerks up and Zayn grabs one of Liam’s arms to steady himself. Liam goes from looking terrified to looking pissed and pulls his hand almost violently out of Zayn’s hold. 

“What do you want?” he sneers, yanking off his headphones and glaring. 

“Look, Liam…” Zayn starts but Liam cuts him off.

“No, you know what, Zayn? Fuck you. You don’t think that if I could have come out I would have by now? You think that…?

Liam is cut off as Zayn’s lips cover his roughly. His immediate response is to panic and push Zayn off but Zayn is stronger than he looks and pushes Liam down onto the bed, kissing him fervently. Liam lets himself kiss back for a while until Zayn tries to move to fully straddle Liam and then he pulls himself back.

“What the _fuck?_ ” he hisses but holds Zayn’s hips in place because he wants this, fuck, he wants this.

“God, Liam, you just don’t get it, do you?”

“Don’t patronise me, Zayn,” Liam groans angrily.

Zayn pinches Liam’s chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Look, I like you. A lot. I think you’re super-hot and a decent guy and I have fun around you, yeah? And my love life gets splashed across tabloids which I fucking loathe so I don’t really want one right now. And you can’t go out and pull because you’re not out but you’re hella sexually frustrated, am I right?”

“Yeah…” Liam mumbles confusedly. 

“So I’m offering you a deal, yeah? We help each other out here. I’m attracted to you, you’re attracted to me…” Liam blushes but nods. “Good. Now take your pants off.”

“What?!” Liam splutters.

“You heard me. Take your pants off, I want to see your pretty cock,” Zayn says without a shred of embarrassment as his fingers go to his own trouser buttons.

Liam flushes the deepest red that Zayn’s seen him go yet. “I… we can’t just… I mean, I haven’t…”

Zayn stares at him trying to catch his eye for a few moments and then twigs, his fingers dropping to his sides and his eyes growing wide. “Oh, OH! So when you said nobody knew you were gay you meant literally nobody. Not even a one-time thing from when you were seventeen?”

“It’s not like there hasn’t been anyone,” Liam mumbles. “I’ve fucked a few girls.”

“Ooh, get you,” says Zayn teasingly but Liam still looks mortified. “Hey, hey. Whatever you’re comfortable with, yeah? We don’t even need to fuck yet.”

“How kind,” drawls Liam and Zayn rolls his eyes. “Look, we’ll start with kissing. Have you ever kissed another boy?”

“Just once. Robert Jones in Spin the Bottle when I was fifteen.”

Zayn nods and ducks down, pressing their lips together firmly. Liam tenses but Zayn cups Liam’s face softly and bites down on his bottom lip. “Let me in, babe. It’s fine, you’re fine.”

Liam makes a noise from the back of his throat but then starts kissing back. Liam is a clumsy kisser and he feels inexperienced but Zayn is encouraging, making noises to spur Liam on.

They break apart eventually and Liam rests his forehead against Zayn’s, breathing heavily. “Was I good?”

“Yeah babe, you were. How are you feeling?”

“G-good. A little turned on,” he admits sheepishly.

“Well, let me see if I can’t do something about that,” winks Zayn, sliding his hands down Liam’s chest to his zip. He tugs it down then gently encourages Liam to shimmy out of them, followed by his black boxer briefs.

Zayn kisses him again, gently and exploring. Breaking the kiss, he holds his palm up to Liam’s mouth and Liam looks at it confused until Zayn says “lick it, babe.”

Liam eventually twigs and wraps his fingers around Zayn’s thin wrist, licking it all over to get it nice and wet. Zayn nods his approval then his hand snakes down and wraps itself around Liam’s semi, gently stroking him to full hardness.

Liam keens and grips tighter at Zayn’s hips as Zayn starts to jerk him properly, tightening his fist around his length. Liam lets Zayn start kissing at his neck as he wanks him harder, pausing only for a second to swipe the pre-cum and use it as extra lube.

When Liam comes a few minutes later, it’s with a low growl of Zayn’s name and an entire body spasm. Zayn tugs him through it and when he’s finished and coming down from his high Zayn gently tugs his t-shirt over his head and wipes the cum on it, dropping it on the bed next to them.

Liam is breathing heavily, bright red spreading across his chest and face. He lets Zayn kiss him for a while and he lets his own hands explore Zayn’s body gently. He brushes over Zayn’s dick and Zayn twitches.

“It’s not fair that I’m naked and you’re not,” says Liam as he shucks Zayn’s t-shirt. Zayn climbs off Liam and rolls onto his back, tugging on Liam’s arm so Liam turns over and kisses him. Liam takes a deep breath and quickly pulls Zayn’s undone trousers from his legs and before he can overthink it he licks his own palm and plunges it into Zayn’s Calvin Klein’s.

Zayn moans beautifully as he comes and Liam claps his free hand over his mouth because like it or not, their friends are still outside and there is a very real possibility that they heard that. Liam wipes Zayn’s cum on his t-shirt before kicking it to the floor. He then bends down and picks up his boxer briefs and slides back into them before lying next to Zayn on the bed because if they’ve just agreed for this to be a friendly thing then lying together afterwards just feels a little too intimate.

“So this is something we do now?” he says cautiously, turning his head to look at Zayn. Zayn mirrors him and shrugs as best you can when lying down.

“Yeah, if you want,” he smirks. “Good friends who occasionally fuck. I’ll be Mila Kunis, you can be Justin Timberlake.”

Liam stares blankly at him and Zayn rolls his eyes again. “My god, okay, never mind.” He jumps off the bed and pulls his jeans back on. “You have lovely hands, by the way.” He pulls on his top and bends down to press one final chaste kiss into Liam’s lips. “Now, c’mon, we’ve been in here too long and there’s probably no pizza left now, knowing Niall. I am _famished_.”

Liam trails out after Zayn, pulling on a random t-shirt from his bedroom floor and wonders what the fuck he’s just gotten himself into. Right now though, orgasm-sated and hungry, he can’t really bring himself to care.

*

It doesn’t become a thing they talk about. Two or three times a week, Zayn and Liam will hook up and they don’t really kiss or anything, they just get each other off. They advanced to blow jobs after about a week but now they’re in week three of The Thing and Liam is eager to go further. 

He’s been training harder than he ever has in his life so he barely ever sees Dani and Niall anymore, let alone the other three except when he drives over to Zayn’s after a session and Zayn will suck the stress right out of him.

The semi-finals are three days away when Liam fingers Zayn for the first time. At first he had been against the idea, thinking it would be too intimate for this friend thing they’re doing but Zayn rolls his eyes and presses the bottle of lube into his hand and insists that if they’re eventually going to fuck then Liam’s going to need to stretch him out anyway, “so you should consider this practice,” Zayn maintains. 

Zayn strips himself down and gets on his bed on his hands and knees. Liam runs a hand over the swell of his arse a few times and Zayn growls. “Can you please stick your fingers in my arse, Liam?” he says exasperatedly and Liam murmurs a “right, right,” and slicks his hand up sloppily, pressing his index finger in slowly.

Apparently having his arse fingered is something that Zayn is hugely responsive to. By the time Liam has two fingers inside Zayn is chanting Liam’s name over and over like a prayer, gripping the headboard like a lifeline. Liam crooks his fingers gently like Zayn had instructed him and Zayn’s entire body shudders as he moans out wonderfully. Liam watches in wonder as he does it again and again and after a few minutes of playing Zayn is coming untouched all over his bed sheets, slumping into the puddle seconds later.

Liam is so hard in his sweatpants that he can barely stand so he braces himself against the footboard of the bed and wanks himself quick and dirty, panting heavily and slumping as he comes.

“I cannot wait until you finally fuck me,” comes Zayn’s muffled voice from up by the pillows. Liam snorts before walking into Zayn’s bathroom, washing his hands and getting a warm flannel for Zayn to clean himself up with.

“Nah, don’t worry about it, I’m gonna shower then I’ve got to head into work for one,” says Zayn, following Liam into the bathroom naked and turning on the shower.

“R-right, I’ll just be off then,” Liam says, dropping the flannel in the sink and retreating. 

“Laters!” calls Zayn from the bathroom as Liam pulls on his shoes and hurries out. Christ, he needs a nap.

The day before the semi-finals, Zayn shows up at Liam’s house with a rotisserie chicken and a FRIENDS boxset. Liam buzzes him up, wearing nothing but boxers because Niall and Dani are out at some staff party thing at Niall’s work.

“We can’t… I can’t come, Zayn,” Liam says, taking the chicken from him and heading to the kitchen. “I need the nervous energy for tomorrow.”

“What, you think I only associate with you for sex?” Zayn says mock-offended. “Contrary to popular opinion, I do actually like people, Liam, and you’re one of the people I actually really like.”

“Yeah?” says Liam, looking up from where he’s cutting the chicken.

“Yeah,” replies Zayn, softer this time with a small blush.

“Well… thank you,” Liam says, handing over a plate of chicken to Zayn with both wings, because he knows they’re Zayn’s favourites.

On the day of the semi-finals, he’s shitting bricks. Dani and Niall give him a long hug before he leaves in the morning and promise to be there early tonight. He gets good luck texts from his parents, sisters, Harry, Louis, Zayn, Andy and a few of the other boxers that he trains with and he’s feeling about as confident as he can at this point.

Paul gives him a final pep talk before he goes out into the ring. “You’re one of the best, Payne. Don’t fuck this up because you have a real chance at winning this. A real chance at winning in this final as well. Now let’s go kick some ass!”

The opening bars of Oasis’ Live Forever sound over the speakers as Liam walks into the ring. The cheers are deafening and his name is being chanted like a mantra by a solid half of the crowd. He looks over to his friends’ box and he sees Harry waving a sign saying _PREPARE TO FEEL THE PAYNE_ which makes me grin widely.

“Okay, so work it how we talked about it. Try and take him out in as little time as possible, yeah? Aim for his left side, he broke a few ribs a couple of years back so it should still be a weaker spot. You ready?”

Liam surveys his opponent. He’s tall and wide-built but he’s smaller than previous opponents that Liam has taken out and now he knows his weakness he’s fairly confident. With that, he nods and Paul slips his mouth guard into his open mouth before giving him a reassuring clap on the back and letting him jump forward.

In the box, Dani is already on her feet, screaming his name encouragingly. Niall joins in the second the bell rings and then there’s the tense few moments as the crowd goes silent and the opponents size each other up before the opponent swings at Liam suddenly. Louis buries his face in Harry’s chest as the fight continues, both men pummelling at each other with force.

Zayn watches with some kind of sick fascination as Liam slams his gloved fist into the opponent’s ribcage. As he falters, Liam goes for the face, knocking him down and out. He tries to lift his head but the bell sounds, signalling Liam’s win of the first round.

“Is it over?” comes Louis’ voice and Harry cards his fingers gently through Louis’ hair as a way of saying he can look.

“Not yet, there’s still another few rounds to go,” Dani says before she screams “YES LIAM!”

The rounds all blur into one for Zayn but he watches in horror as Liam is taken down twice. Dani is literally standing on her chair screaming for him to stand up and then he does, clicking his back before he takes one final slam into the opponent’s ribs, knocking him clean out of the ring. 

A collective gasp goes through the entire audience. Dani jumps off the seat and covers her face with her hands and Louis’ face is back in Harry’s chest. Zayn doesn’t know what to do.

After twenty agonisingly long seconds, the bell rings and signals that Liam’s move was legal and has in fact won him the match. The screech that Dani lets out is louder than anything Zayn’s ever heard from a human being but then he’s being pulled into a giant group hug of all Liam’s closest friends and he’s so proud right now he doesn’t know what to do with himself, or what this even means.

Liam runs over to the edge of the ring and looks directly at his friends. “I’m in the fucking final!” he bellows and Dani bursts into happy tears and the crowd behind them cheers loudly, the chant of his name starting up again. Zayn catches Liam’s eye and Liam gives him one of his eye-crinkling smiles and Zayn winks at him and blows him a kiss. They both already know what’s going to happen tonight and Zayn can hardly wait.

“How are we going to celebrate?” asks Harry excitedly as they make their way to the changing rooms.

Niall opens his mouth to answer with a suggestion but suddenly there are paparazzi all up in their faces screaming questions in all their faces. “Harry, Zayn, how long have you been watching the boxing? Is it true that you and Liam Payne are an item, Zayn? Is this your new prodigy model, Harry?”

“Fuck!” swears Harry and pulls Louis closer to him. Niall in turn links winds his arm protectively around Dani’s waist and the five of them shove through the throng and into the car park, hurriedly piling themselves into Niall’s Land Rover and locking the doors before Niall speeds away as quickly as he can. 

“What the fuck are those kind of paps doing there?” Louis says, terrified. 

“We hardly ever even get papped, this is ridiculous. Someone must have tipped them off or something,” Zayn pants. 

Niall raises an eyebrow as he parks up down a side street. “Thought you said your love life was always in the tabloids.”

“Yes, but they rarely ever pap us. They tend to use pictures of us from shoots because they’re more easily available and my private life is mainly me going out with Harry. It’s all speculation. Harry’s more well-known than me but he doesn’t get papped either, or at least, nobody ever goes out of their way to pap us.”

“That’s so bizarre,” Dani says. She pauses. “What did they mean, are you with Liam?”

Zayn flushes. “I-I don’t k-know. We aren’t an item or anything, you guys know that. Maybe it’s because we hang around as a six and they can tell that you two are couples? It’s a fair assumption.”

Louis types in Zayn Malik and Liam Payne into Google on his phone and an article from the Daily Mail pops up. 

_BOXER SEEN LEAVING ZAYN MALIK’S HOUSE IN THE SMALL HOURS OF THE MORNING_

Four heads turn to look at Zayn.

“So he comes to mine after training sometimes, what’s the big deal? We’re not all joined at the hip, we can do things separately.”

“If you’re fucking, you can tell us,” Niall says slowly. “It’s not like we’ll judge you, is it?”

Zayn blanches. “It’s not… we haven’t… it’s just me helping out a friend, alright?”

Four mouths drop open. “Wow, man, I was kinda half-joking,” says Niall. 

“Oh,” says Zayn in a small voice. 

They sit in an awkward silence until Dani’s phone buzzes. “It’s Liam,” she croaks. “Wants to know why the car isn’t there.”

“Tell him we’re two roads away by the little Tesco,” Niall says.

Liam appears five minutes later, opening the boot loudly and interrupting their awkward stilted conversation. He tosses his bag in then waits until Louis’ climbed into one of the back seats before he slides in next to Zayn, grinning like a madman.

“I fucking won!” he beams but then it falters. “Why is it so tense in here?”

“No reason!” says Harry loudly, cutting through the awkward tension. “Good on ya, Liam!”

Louis and Niall both join in with the happy and celebratory words and Liam smiles again until he catches Dani’s eye in the rear-view mirror. She’s looking at him with such hurt that Liam’s heart breaks a bit and he can’t do anything but look back at her with a look that he hopes conveys how sorry he is for whatever he’s done. 

Niall pulls up outside Gianni’s a few minutes later and they all tumble out the car and head for the entrance. “Meet you in there, yeah?” says Zayn. “Just gonna have a smoke.” He grabs Liam’s wrist as he goes to head inside after a pissed off Dani. “I need a word.”

“What did you say to her?” Liam says, his face tightening as Zayn drops his wrist and pulls out his fag packet.

“They all know,” Zayn says with his mouth around the filter. “We got papped on the way out of the stadium. There’s an article of the Daily Mail where you were papped leaving mine somehow. They kept shouting questions about whether we were a thing. I’m so sorry, Liam.”

Liam’s face goes rigid with fear. “There’s no proof though!” Zayn adds quickly, inhaling the sharp smoke welcomingly. “If we need to release a statement through either of our PR people, the statement is Dani and Harry are friends and then we became friends. There is no reason for them to assume we’re shagging.”

“We’re _aren’t_ though,” Liam hisses nervously. “At least not yet. I’m not ready for this and I…”

“Hey, hey, babe. We can stop this if you want to. This was the point of it, wasn’t it? No strings attached,” he says gently, although every fibre of his being is praying that Liam says no.

Liam lets out a long sigh. “No, I don’t want that. Fucking you is all I’ve thought about for weeks now. Plus I haven’t come since we last… you know, so I’d quite like it to be tonight.”

“Yeah? Well let’s do it then. They all know now anyway if I go home with you it won’t be too unusual, yeah?”

“Okay,” Liam says, almost as if he’s reassuring himself. “I better go talk to Dani, she’s pissed at me for something. Not telling her, I presume.”

Zayn nods, tossing the filter to the ground and grinds it out with his foot. He follows Liam inside to their usual table and then Dani’s grabbing Liam around the wrist and dragging him into the corridor where the toilets are.

“You bastard!” she hisses with a feeble punch to his chest. “You keep a secret like this from me? You’re finally… and you… you little _fucker_ …”

Liam groans and tries to pull her into a hug but she slaps him off. “No, _NO_ , you cannot hug your way out of this. You and one of our best friends and you’re, what, friends with benefits? Secretly in love?!”

Liam freezes at the word ‘love.’ He knows what he feels for Zayn is more than the casual fuck-buddy relationship but he doesn’t want to stop because he’s happy to have Zayn, even if it’s only in this way.

“It’s just… he’s just… he’s giving me a safe environment to explore what I’ve never been able to explore, you know? I don’t…” he pauses. “I fancy him like mad, yeah? But he doesn’t want any more than what we are and I respect that. In a way, I don’t think I do. I need to focus on the tournament and he’s going to Milan and Paris soon and he’s too in the limelight, it’s just…”

“Oh babe,” Dani says, her tone a lot softer than it was before. “You really fucking like him, don’t you?”

Liam sags and she wraps him up in a hug. “I do, but it’s not… it is what it is, yeah?”

“Yeah, babe, I get you. Just… don’t let him hurt you. Don’t get in too deep, if you think you’re falling then get yourself out.”

“Okay,” Liam replies but it sounds unconvincing even to his own ears. “He’s coming round tonight, is that okay?”

“You don’t need my permission to bring someone round to your own flat, darling.” She holds him tighter. “I love you babe.”

“Love you more,” he says, pressing a kiss into her hair. “Come on, let’s get back in there and we can celebrate the fact that I’m in the FUCKING FINAL!”

She laughs and jumps up and down with him until a man walks into the corridor and gives them an extremely suspicious look as he walks into the toilet. They walk back into the restaurant and it’s a lot less tense when they sit down at the table, at long fucking last.

Niall drops Louis and Harry at Louis’ flat at the end of the evening and then drives the rest of them back to Dani and Liam’s. They all pile into the flat and Dani whispers something in Niall’s ear as Liam heads into the kitchen to mix up a protein shake for himself.

“We’ll leave you two alone,” Niall singsongs, taking Dani’s hand and walking straight into her bedroom. Zayn looks over to Liam who is chugging down his protein shake with wobbly hands.

Zayn kicks off his Docs and pads over to him. “We don’t have to do this,” he near whispers but Liam shakes his head violently. 

“No, no, I want this. It’s just… you know… first time nerves.”

Zayn takes a deep breath and against his better judgement he presses their lips together gently. They haven’t kissed on the lips since the first night of hand jobs because it’s too close into the valley of intimacy but Liam kisses back fiercely, gripping Zayn’s forearms tightly.

They kiss long and languid, stumbling backwards towards Liam’s room with hands fisted in shirts and hair. The door slams behind them and Liam drops Zayn on the bed and slowly pulls his t-shirt over his head and kicks off his shoes. Zayn looks up at him as he slides off his jacket and undoes his jeans, pushing them down and pulling his socks off with them.

Liam bends down and kisses him again because now they’ve started this they can’t seem to stop. Zayn’s hands move from cupping Liam’s face to undoing Liam’s jeans and trying to push them down. Liam breaks the kiss to do it himself, pulling down his boxer briefs and yanking off his socks so he’s fully naked standing over Zayn.

Zayn shucks his t-shirt and shuffles up the bed so he’s lying against the white sheets in just his black Calvin Klein’s. Liam looks over him and his breath hitches because he looks so beautiful and right now he’s Liam’s for the taking.

Liam grabs the lube and a condom from his bedside drawer and then shuffles up the bed so he’s hovering over Zayn, licking eagerly into his mouth as he palms him through his boxers. Zayn whines and pushes them down his hips. “Touch me, Li, please!”

As soon as his boxers are off, Zayn rolls over and spreads his legs wide so Liam can get to where he wants him. “Come on, Li, fuck me, fuck me, fuck me,” he pants out, reaching back to grab at Liam’s hand to direct him where he wants it.

Liam swallows nervously because he wants everything and his brain doesn’t seem to be catching up. When it does he snicks the lube open and coats two of his fingers, working one in and out of Zayn gently. Zayn makes a noise somewhere between a growl and a moan and pushes his whole body up so he’s rocking back and forth on his knees.

“Yeah, like that, Li, _please_ ,” he pants. Liam adds another and fucks them in and out, in and out, curling them up every now and then to hear Zayn groan in that delicious way he does. 

“You okay?” he questions tentatively as he scissors his fingers gently.

“Liam, I’m going to fucking come if you keep doing that,” Zayn snarls out. “If your dick is not in my ass in the next ten seconds I swear to God…”

Liam pulls his fingers out and wipes them on the duvet. Zayn pushes himself up so his arse is in the air and he’s supported on his knees but Liam doesn’t want to do it like this.

“Can you…?” he starts then pauses. Zayn looks back with a murderous glare and Liam stutters out “can you be on your back? I want to see your face.”

Zayn goes from murderous to hesitant to desperate. Liam takes that as a yes and grabs one of the pillows from under Zayn’s head to position it under his hips. He grabs the condom and tears it open quickly, his eyes meeting Zayn’s and never leaving as he slides it on his length and adds some more lube. He lines himself up and Zayn looks up at him with dark eyes, grabbing at Liam’s thick biceps to pull him in. 

Liam presses the tip in gingerly and slides in inch by inch, watching in wonder at how Zayn’s tiny body stretches around his girth, his head falling back against the pillow as he moans brokenly.

Once Liam is fully seated inside Zayn he leans down and pecks his lips once. Zayn’s eyes snap open and he looks at Liam almost as if he’s scared but then Liam pulls out and slams back in again.

Liam fucks Zayn hard and fast but both of them know that this feels more than just a fuck. Liam is powerful but he’s also gentle, making sure to chase Zayn’s pleasure before his own and changing the angle so it’s easier to hit Zayn’s magic spot.

Liam reaches down and begins to wank Zayn off in time with his thrusts and it doesn’t take more than a few minutes for Zayn to be coming with a cry of Liam’s now, his entire body spasming and tightening around Liam before he goes limp. Liam reaches forward and holds one of his hands under Zayn’s head and fucks into him as his orgasm finishes, his own orgasm crashing over him just seconds later.

Zayn is breathing heavily and deeply as Liam delicately pulls out, tying the condom and dropping it in the bin straight away before lying back down on the bed. Zayn is still lying on his back, eyes closed and hands fisted in the sheets. 

Both boys lie there in silence for a long time until Zayn swears under his breath.

“What?” asks Liam, confused.

“Fucking hell, Liam. Just fuck! You can’t…” he opens his eyes and pulls himself up into a seating position, leaning over the side of the bed to grab his boxers. “We shouldn’t have done it like that. It was too… I shouldn’t have _kissed_ you!”

Liam props himself up on his elbows. “You’re… you’re serious? Zayn, it was everything I needed it to be, it doesn’t have to be more than that!” 

“It already is more than that, though, isn’t it Liam?” spits Zayn, pulling his t-shirt over his head. “There are feelings between us and I-I- I didn’t fucking sign up for feelings, okay?”

“Fuck you, Zayn, fuck you,” Liam’s voice cracks and he slides under the duvet, suddenly feeling incredibly exposed. “I was just doing what I thought you wanted me to do, it’s not my fault we both fell.”

“No, it’s not,” Zayn says sadly. “I’m sorry, Liam. If it’s any consolation, that was probably the best fuck of my life but I can’t… it’s not right for either of us. Maybe if the timing was different but now…”

“Please get out,” Liam whimpers, sliding the duvet up to his shoulders. “Just get the fuck out, Zayn. Break my heart and get the fuck out.”

Zayn bites his lip hard to stop himself from crying as he pulls on his jacket, hurrying out of Liam’s door and into the cold London streets.

*

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

“Get the fuck out my house, Styles. That key is for emergencies only.”

“This _is_ an emergency, you dick. Dani phoned me this morning saying Liam is a mess, but I don’t know much more than that because she’s at this interview with Vogue. So tell me what happened.” Harry crawls under the covers next to Zayn, who doesn’t open his eyes but crawls into the familiar warmth of his best friend’s arms.

“We fucked for the first time last night, yeah? He was nervous as anything so I kissed him and we… we purposefully don’t kiss because it’s too intimate. And it was. We kissed and we fucked face to face and it was _so fucking good_ but it wasn’t… I signed up for a fuck buddy, not someone who wants to make love to me!”

“But you have feelings for him too?” Harry asks, holding Zayn’s shoulders to look at him properly.

Zayn pauses. “I don’t… I don’t know.”

“Bullshit,” snaps Harry. “You’ve been in love with him for weeks now.”

“Even if I was in lo- if I did have feelings for him it still doesn’t change the fact that it’s not the right time for either of us!”

“Why?!” asks Harry incredulously. 

“It’s not right for him because of his tournament and it’s not right for me because I don’t want our relationship splashed all over the papers!”

“Oh my fucking god, get the fuck over yourself!” Harry barks. “You’re a high profile figure, yeah, but so am I. And I’m in a happy, loving relationship that I wouldn’t change for fucking _anything._ Louis is everything to me and he’s good! The good ones don’t care if they occasionally get slated in the Daily fucking Mail.”

He sighs and runs a hand through his curls. “Remember last October, when I took Lou to Aruba?” Zayn nods. “Well, when we came back, his best friend from home had left a really angry voicemail on Lou’s phone. The Mirror had published this article about how he looked fat next to me in a swimsuit and how he was only my then boy toy because we all knew I could do better.” Zayn gasps.

“It fucking broke Lou because it made him start doubting whether I meant it when I said I loved him Whether he actually was my Mr. Right Now more than my Mr. Right. Of course I fucking mean it when I say I love him because he’s the love of my life, yeah? And he knows that now, he does know it but _my god_ , they’re vicious bastards those journos.”

“So what are you saying to me, Harry?” Zayn whimpers out. Harry sighs and cups Zayn’s cheeks in his giant hands.

“I’m saying that that article could have meant Lou leaving me, right? They want shit like that because it means more stories for them to publish. But then he realised he needed to believe me over those _vultures_ and that’s what’s important. The people who matter don’t mind and the people who mind don’t matter, you get me?”

“But even if I do lo- I mean, have feelings for him it doesn’t matter because he won’t risk the tournament for me and I don’t want him to!”

“The final is next week, Zayn. You can wait seven fucking days.”

“But what if he doesn’t want to come out? What if he doesn’t want me anymore after last night?!” he whispers into Harry’s chest.

“He will, trust me. I’m pretty sure he loves you back. He looks at you like you hung the moon.”

“I’ve never done this before…” Zayn says nervously, eyes wide as he looks up at Harry. Harry kisses the top of his head. 

“I know babe, but it’s not meant to be easy. The course of true love never did…”

He’s cut off by his phone ringing against the hard wood of Zayn’s bedside table. He reaches across, mouths “it’s Dani” to Zayn and presses ACCEPT.

“Hey darling, what’s up?”

He sits up suddenly. “Dani, darling, stop crying, shit. Where are you?” Zayn sits up next to him as Harry’s face gets darker and darker.

“They said what?! What the motherfuck?!” He jumps off Zayn’s bed, pulling on his boots one-handed as he coos reassurances to Dani down the phone. “I’ll be there in fifteen. Where’s Niall, or Liam?”

Dani says something and then Harry swears loudly. “Okay, doll, I’ll be there as soon as I can, I promise. Love you.”

He hangs up and slides his phone into his impossibly tight jeans pocket.

“What’s happened?” Zayn asks desperately. 

“Fucking _Vogue_ and their pretentious fucking bullshit!” He sighs angrily. “Basically, Burberry set up interviews with Dani and the three other up-and-coming models before Milan Fashion Week, yeah? And she went it and they asked her to bring some pictures of her at home and what she does in her spare time, that kind of thing, and they basically told her that they weren’t going to print the picture of her and Niall because they don’t look like a couple.”

Zayn swears loudly. “Are you being fucking serious?”

Harry shakes his head, pulling his jacket on. “Nope. Refused to print it. Asked her if she had a picture with her of someone better looking that they could call her boyfriend instead. Said the readers won’t be interested in her if her boyfriend isn’t hot.”

“How the fuck can they say that?” Zayn growls. “Niall isn’t the most beautiful person in the world but neither are you or I or Lou or…”

“Liam?” Harry says with a shake of his head. Zayn opens his mouth and then closes it again. “I thought so. Fuck this. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

“Yeah, see you,” Zayn says, his anger still not subsiding. 

“Think about what I said!” screams Harry from down the stairs.

“Fuck yourself!” Zayn yells back, before flopping back onto the pillows.

He closes his eyes but all he sees is Liam’s crinkly-eyed smile and that’s when he realises that he is so fucked.

*

Liam is knackered, pissed off and heartbroken but that increases ten-fold when he steps inside his flat and sees Dani sobbing in Harry’s arms.

He drops his bag and keys straight on the floor and hurries over to the sofa, dropping to the floor and taking Dani in his arms, cradling her head against his chest.

“Dani, what’s happened? Are you okay? Is it your dad’s heart again? Is Niall okay?”

At the mention of Niall’s name she sobs harder, her long nails scratching at his chest as she tries to almost burrow herself inside Liam’s safe warm arms.

He lets her cry and looks at Harry pleadingly and questioningly. “It was her Vogue interview,” he whispers and Dani chokes on a sob. Gently, he extracts her from his chest and scoops her up so he can sit on the sofa and hold her on his lap.

“Dani, babe, I need you to talk to me,” Liam encourages gently. She nods and slips her hand into his and he squeezes it reassuringly.

“In my interview today,” she stutters out, sniffing harshly, “they asked me to bring photos, right? Of my boyfriend and my friends and family so I did. And they told me…” her face crumples and she lets out a wet cough. “They told me that Niall isn’t the right look for my boyfriend and they can’t feature me in the magazine talking about my boyfriend if he’s what I’m basing it on. Like what the _fuck?_

Dani cries harder into Liam’s chest as he stares at Harry dumbfounded. Harry looks angry as fuck, typing away furiously on his phone in between stroking soothingly up and down Dani’s leg.

It rings suddenly and Harry answers it immediately. “Yeah, you’re damn right I’m pissed off. How dare they?” There’s a pause. “What do you mean? Well, they could start by featuring her and printing a picture of her actual fiancé who she’s been with for four years and who makes her happier than some piece of shit Vogue feature ever could.”

“Oh yeah?” he sneers at whatever the person on the other end says. “Well, you can count me out then.” His eyes go wide. “And how do you want her to react?” He scoffs. “If you gave me any of that bullshit about Louis I’d tell you exactly where to shove it.” More murmuring. “Well then, I’ll offer you a compromise. Either they publish the article, or you can say goodbye to Dani _and_ me _and_ Zayn _and_ your top make-up artist. What do you have to say to that?”

Liam’s mouth drops open and Dani squeezes his hand so tight her nails puncture the skin. “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Harry snarls, hanging up the phone swiftly and tossing it to the other side of the sofa.

“Harry, you didn’t have to do that for me,” chokes out Dani, leaning over to squeeze his hand. 

“Yes I did, babe. For you and Niall, because you’re my best friends and that’s fucking inhuman is that it is.”

“So what happens now?” questions Liam, his face still tight with anger.

“Well, they’re running the story. They’d be so fucked if they lost Zayn or Louis or me so they’re running it for the wrong reasons but at least they’re running it.”

“Does Niall know?” Liam questions and Dani nods sadly, hanging her head. “How did he react?”

“Called Vogue a shower of cunts and told me he couldn’t give two fucks about whether they printed him or not as long as I stopped crying,” Dani says with a wet laugh. “He said he’d be home around four anyway.” She slides herself down the sofa so she can hug Harry properly. “I’m going to take a shower and wipe all this make-up off my face. You’re welcome to stay, Haz.”

Harry nods. “Cheers doll. I’ll be here when you get out. I’ll make us some tea. Mind if I just piss before you shower?” She nods and he disappears down the hallway.

“Li?” she says tentatively. Liam stands up and hugs her properly, pulling her as close as she dares. “Remember a few months ago? When you asked if I’d choose my career or Niall?” Liam nods curiously. “I’d choose Niall in a fucking heartbeat.”

*

It’s the night of the Final and Liam can’t breathe.

This is everything he’s been working towards his entire life and right now he’s so fucking distracted because he’s seen his friends in the audience and all he can think about is collarbones, dark skin and piercing hazel eyes.

On the plus side, the fact that he’s there and hasn’t spoken to Liam in a week is riling him up nicely and he can hardly sit still. He wants to go out there and shout at him, hurt him, have Zayn hurt him back, kiss him fiercely but he _can’t_ and he needs to fucking focus.

“Oi, oi, your missus that isn’t your missus is here and she is looking _fine_!” exclaims Andy, clapping Liam on the back.

“Not my missus,” grits out Liam once again, jumping angrily from one foot to another.

“Which one is she?” asks Josh, one of the newer boxers. Andy points over and Josh makes an appreciative noise. “She would get it all over and everywhere, man. You did good.”

“Not. My. Missus,” Liam says dangerously lowly. “Don’t say shit about her, man, say shit about anyone but her, alright?”  
Josh holds up his hands defensively as Paul walks in the room. “Everything okay in here, lads?”

“Fine, Coach, just fine,” Liam snaps through gritted teeth, slumping against the lockers.

“Liam, calm down, you’re gonna do great. You’ve got great support, Dani’s here with Niall and I can see your boy in the audience…”

Liam’s eyes bulge as Andy chokes on his swig of protein shake. “W-what did you say, Coach?”

“I said Liam’s got a great support network, his boyfriend and his best friends are out there…?” Paul trails off, confused.

“Wait, wait, wait, you’re gay?”

“Wait, you people didn’t know?” Paul says as he smacks his hand on his forehead. “Shit, Liam, I am so sorry, I assumed you’d told people. It _was_ on the Daily Mail.”

Liam shakes his head, still kind of dazed. “Is that a problem for you guys?” he practically whispers, his eyes still the size of saucers.

Andy shakes his head. “Why would it be? Do you love him?”

Liam hesitates but nods, because he knows he does and he thinks Zayn probably knows as well. “Well good for you!” exclaims Andy, pulling him into a tight hug. “Whatever and whoever makes you happy, dude.”

“Yeah?” says Liam in a small voice. 

“Were you…” Andy puts his hands on Liam’s shoulders. “Were you scared to tell us?”

Liam nods and looks at Paul, who shrugs and smiles. “Look, Liam, you’re still our best boxer. Look, you’re fucking here, aren’t you? Who cares if you like cock in your arse?”

There’s a laugh around the changing room and Liam’s finally smiling as his opponent, an ugly brute called Shaw marches in led by his trainer.

“Ready to fight?” he drawls, punching his fists together aggressively.

The opening bars of Liam’s traditional Live Forever blare over the speakers and he walks out with his arm and his head held high, ready to win this fight and then tell his boy that he loves him.

*

Zayn can’t breathe.

He’s currently being shoved through a throng of paparazzi by Paul who’s shouting for everyone to back the fuck off. He feels an arm wind around his middle and realises gratefully that it’s Niall, urging the group through the mob as quickly as possible.

Zayn has no idea what the fuck happened. All he remembers is watching a fist collide with Liam’s face and him going down, his temple colliding hard with the hard corner of the stall that Paul sits on.

Zayn hadn’t thought twice before jumping out of his seat and running to the front, trying to claw his way past the bouncers stopping him from getting up into the ring as Paul called out for the first aid.

The match was terminated and Liam was being rushed to hospital. Right now Zayn couldn’t focus on anything apart from getting to his bedside, which was being made ever more difficult as the paparazzi scream in his face.

“Zayn, Zayn! How long have you and Liam been together? Do you know anything about his condition? Is this how you planned to come out?”

Zayn whips around at that one. “Are you being fucking serious?!” he snarls. “You really think that this is how I wanted it to go? You think I asked for my Liam…” He trails off as his voice breaks and tears begin to streak his cheeks and Niall takes the brunt of his weight to help him out the crowd and towards their car.

Niall, Dani and Zayn pile into the car and Harry and Louis assure them that they’ll meet them there later. Dani’s openly sobbing as she climbs into the backseat and into Zayn’s arms instead of the front seat, cradling Zayn’s head to her chest.

“I love him, Dani,” he chokes out as Niall reverses the car and speeds out of the car park dangerously fast. “You know that, right? I didn’t mean for it to happen but I love him so fucking much and I was going to tell him today, after he won.”

“I know you do, darling, I know you do,” Dani sobs, pulling him closer. “He knows you do too but he really needs to hear you say it.”

“I’ll tell him every single day from now on, I promise,” he whimpers and Dani nods, thumbing away his tears.

The drive feels too long and too short all at once as Niall breaks every speed limit and Dani calls Liam’s parents to tell him what’s happened. They tell her that they’re on their way down and to call with any news and she hangs up before a fresh flow of tears starts.

They pull up at the hospital and rush inside, Dani clutching both boys hands lest she lose them for a second. Niall leads them to the counter and demands to know whether Liam Payne is and the nurse glares at them. “Family only, I’m afraid,” she says in a condescending voice.

“I’m his sister,” Dani snaps angrily. “This is his boyfriend and this is my boyfriend, where is he?”

“No need to shout, please,” the nurse retorts but types Liam’s name into the computer. “Third floor, room 34B.”

“Thank you,” Niall answers for all three of them as Dani practically runs towards the lift, shouting “witch!” over her shoulder.

The worst part is the waiting, Zayn thinks. The doctor told them that Liam was under heavy sedation and that he’d had a small seizure in the ambulance but there was no lasting damage, it was just a case of his body waking up naturally after it had gone into shock.

Liam’s parents arrive later that night and hold Dani for a long time as she cries fresh tears. She then introduces them to Zayn, who shakes their hands nervously. 

“I wish we were meeting under different circumstances,” Karen sniffs, stroking her sleeping son’s cheek. “Particularly circumstances where my son had told me he has a boyfriend.”

Zayn coughs nervously from Liam’s other side. “Oh, well, you see, it’s…” He looks at Dani desperately for help but she shrugs her shoulders with a grimace. “We haven’t exactly defined us as a relationship yet.”

“Oh,” Karen says, looking down at Liam.

“I was going to tell him tonight though,” Zayn continues even though he’s unsure why. “I was going to tell him that I love him and he means everything to me and I’m scared, I’m so scared because I’ve never been anyone’s boyfriend before but I want to be a good one for him…” Tears are flowing freely down his face onto Liam’s hand and Karen bustles over and pulls him into a tight hug.

“Oh, sweetheart,” she coos. Zayn lets himself be held and wipes furiously at his eyes with the back of his hand.

Harry and Louis turn up about an hour later and the doctors tell the group they can’t stay in his room overnight. Dani and Zayn both adamantly refuse to leave so Dani gives Karen the keys to their flat saying they’re welcome to stay there. Zayn falls asleep on an uncomfortable hospital chair, his arms empty of the man he had daydreamed about being wrapped up in at this moment in time.

*

Liam’s head fucking hurts.

He wakes up slowly, everything around him feeling a little too bright and smelling a little too clean. He tries to stretch but his body aches all over and his head throbs as he tries to blink things into focus.

He’s not at all sure where the fuck he is and he’s just starting to panic when the door opens and he sees a familiar face walk in, a huge beam spreading from ear to ear as she notices he’s open.

“Liam, babe!” she exclaims, hurrying over and hugging him gingerly. “You gave me such a scare, you fucking prick.”

“What happened to me?” he rasps, his throat sore from disuse.

“You… um… the fight. You hit your temple against Paul’s little stool thing and you knocked yourself out. There was blood everywhere, fuck Li, I was so scared!” she whimpers, clutching at his hand desperately.

“How long have I been out?” 

“Three days,” she says solemnly. “I haven’t gone home since, neither has Zayn, you’ve scared a lot of people, darling.”

“Zayn’s here?” Liam says, his eyes prickling with unwelcome tears. “Why?”

Dani gives him a _don’t bullshit me_ look through her tears. “Because he loves you, you thick bastard.”

“He does?” Liam questions, practically whispering. 

“You love each other, idiot. My god, you really need to…”

She’s cut off by the door opening. “Dani, who are you talking t-?”

Zayn freezes in his tracks, his hand quivering against the door handle. He looks tired, with dark circles under his eyes and a good amount of stubble littering his chin. He’s wearing glasses and one of Niall’s hoodies and Liam loves him, Liam fucking loves him, _fuck_.

“I-I-I can come back…” Zayn says with his wide, beautiful eyes staring at Liam, a huge grin spreading across his features regardless of his words. Liam shakes his head and holds out his hand and Zayn steps into the room and takes it. Dani slips out behind them, saying she’s going to get a doctor.

“I thought you were leaving me,” Zayn whispers, crouching down next to Liam’s bed and pressing kiss after kiss into Liam’s knuckles. “I thought you were going to die.”

“Not before I’ve won this tournament,” Liam whispers back. “And even if I don’t win the tournament, I still have you, yeah?”

“I’m pretty sure you’ve had me since our first conversation in the corridor,” Zayn admits. Liam shifts himself to one side of the bed and tugs on Zayn’s hand so he gets up and joins him on the bed.

“I told my teammates and Paul before I went out yesterday,” Liam tells him. “I told them and I wanted to tell you straight after I won. That even though you didn’t want me I wanted you and I’d wait until you were ready.”

“I’m ready. I’m ready to call you mine. I’m sorry I spent so long lying to myself when I could have been doing this the whole time.”

Their mouths finally meet, messily and hungrily. Liam bets his mouth must taste something awful but he can’t stop, doesn’t want to stop until the doctor walks back in the room, Dani and Niall trailing behind him.

Liam is discharged three days later and told no boxing or exercise for at least eight weeks. Zayn takes him home and spreads him out of Liam’s sheets, opening him up gently and fucking into him slowly until Liam is coming with a broken cry of Zayn’s name and spurting ribbons of come over both their torsos.

As Zayn cleans Liam up and climbs back into his bed, kissing him long and slow and deep Liam smiles with the smile crinkles his eyes and Zayn realises that nothing else matters to him as long as Liam is smiling that smile.

*

Liam hears him before he sees him. 

That deep throaty laugh that Liam first fell in love with ricochets around the studio and it makes Liam smile from the inside out even though he has no idea what’s even funny.

“Babe?” Liam spins around and sees Zayn jogging towards him from across the studio from where he was talking to the presenter of this talk show he’s going on, his face a huge grin. Liam holds out his arm and Zayn falls into it, leaning up to press a tender kiss to Liam’s jaw. “I’m on in five minutes, are you going to watch from backstage or the audience?”

“Audience, I think,” Liam says thoughtfully, leaning down to give Zayn a proper kiss. A buzzer sounds signalling that the interview is going live shortly so after one final kiss the pair reluctantly part ways and Liam takes his seat on the second row next to Louis.

“And we’re going live in five, four, three…!” calls out a producer and then the interview goes live. Zayn is the second guest on but Liam sits patiently through as Jonathan Ross interviews Calvin Harris on his new album.

“And next we have the second most beautiful male to grace my sofa, after Robert Downing Jr. of course, it’s Mr. Zayn Malik!”

Applause sounds loudly throughout the studio and Zayn walks in through the back door, wearing a black roll-neck under a black suit, looking handsome as ever. Liam bites on his bottom lip to try and control the pride swelling through him.

The interview starts pretty standard, asking about how Milan and Paris Fashion Week had been and whether he gets out of bed in the morning and thinks “wow, this is my face!” (Liam laughs along loudly because he knows Zayn does do that).

“So your man is here with us today?” Jonathan questions and Zayn nods, his smile wide.

“Yep, my handsome Liam is here with me,” he says, shooting Liam a quick wink. Liam flushes as the camera pans to him but he gives a cheeky wave as Louis elbows him in the ribs.

“You’ve been together just over a year then, I’m told?” 

“Fourteen months on Friday,” agrees Zayn. “And we’ll be together for the next fourteen months and fourteen months after that…”

“My god, you are whipped, mate,” Jonathan jokes and Zayn laughs his laugh that makes Liam smile so wide his eyes crinkle.

“I guess I am,” he admits like it’s no big deal and Liam can’t even fathom how different this is to the Zayn from fifteen months ago. 

“He used to be a boxer, didn’t he?” Zayn nods, taking a sip of his water.

“He was for a good few years but he sustained a serious injury and decided to quit, which is a shame because he worked so hard but I respect his decision. It was difficult because it’s not an easy sport to be gay in but he did what he thought was right and he’s happy. He’s currently training to be a fireman.”

“You must be very proud,” Jonathon says sincerely.

“I am the proudest,” he says solemnly and Liam thinks his heart could burst.

The interview carries on talking about Zayn and Harry’s rise to being the first male models to properly be considered supermodels and what their next projects would be. After he’s tied it up and it cuts to commercial Liam ducks out of the audience into the green room and kisses Zayn stupid.

“You’re the proudest, are you?” he says teasingly, cupping Zayn’s cheek. 

“The very proudest. You know that.” Zayn says, knocking their foreheads together. He leans forward and whispers in Liam’s ear “I wish this wasn’t live. I want to drag you home and ride your brains out.” 

“But we’re going to Gianni’s with the gang!” Liam whines as a producer shoos him back into the audience as the break finishes.

“We’ll do both,” smirks Zayn, taking his seat back on the green room sofa.

And they do. And it’s a tradition they still uphold fourteen months after that, and the fourteen months after that and the fourteen months after that.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr tumblr tumblr](http://bigdaddypayne.tumblr.com)
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> oh, and i like comments and kudos a lot.
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